Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - XVIIIth century Philippine Colonial sword

Jim McDougall · 6th June 2021, 07:12 AM

I think that the dynamics of trade networks are often highly underestimated, and the East Indies were no exception with the complex interactions at ports of call and entrepots.

The Dutch VOC blades were as I have understood produced in Holland by German makers for the various 'chambers' of the Company. The most common one was of course Amsterdam (the 'A' over VOC). These blades were then either hilted on swords for marketing to those in employ of the VOC, or often traded in the many ports they went to.

While Manila was of course Spanish, and the far end of the 'Spanish Main', there seems little doubt that trade interaction in surrounding ports in the 'Indies' would bring these valued blades into this center. Hilting of blades by armorers in Colonial Spanish main cities was well established.
The well known 'Spanish motto' blades (Draw me Without Reason etc) were produced in Solingen for the Spanish colonies in the 18th c., and the ports for export of the Solingen blades came through Holland, so it seems feasible that VOC blades might have comingled.

In my view, it does not seem that VOC blades were highly present in the Manila hilted examples of these Philippines version of the 'bilbo' (1728) type Spanish swords, nor as far as I know were the 'Spanish motto' ones.
It is reasonable that either would occur incidentally however, and it would be most interesting if some record or number of instances of these might reveal an established trade arrangement in Manila with VOC directly.

6th June 2021, 07:12 AM	#11
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 9,745	I think that the dynamics of trade networks are often highly underestimated, and the East Indies were no exception with the complex interactions at ports of call and entrepots. The Dutch VOC blades were as I have understood produced in Holland by German makers for the various 'chambers' of the Company. The most common one was of course Amsterdam (the 'A' over VOC). These blades were then either hilted on swords for marketing to those in employ of the VOC, or often traded in the many ports they went to. While Manila was of course Spanish, and the far end of the 'Spanish Main', there seems little doubt that trade interaction in surrounding ports in the 'Indies' would bring these valued blades into this center. Hilting of blades by armorers in Colonial Spanish main cities was well established. The well known 'Spanish motto' blades (Draw me Without Reason etc) were produced in Solingen for the Spanish colonies in the 18th c., and the ports for export of the Solingen blades came through Holland, so it seems feasible that VOC blades might have comingled. In my view, it does not seem that VOC blades were highly present in the Manila hilted examples of these Philippines version of the 'bilbo' (1728) type Spanish swords, nor as far as I know were the 'Spanish motto' ones. It is reasonable that either would occur incidentally however, and it would be most interesting if some record or number of instances of these might reveal an established trade arrangement in Manila with VOC directly.